Trump Meets With DeSantis in ‘Quest for Donors,’ Calls for Protests to be Shut Down One Day Later
Chris Menahan
How to get donors 101.
From Bloomberg, “Trump Meets DeSantis Seeking to Tap Ex-Rival’s Donor Connections”:
Donald Trump and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis met on Sunday to discuss the possibility of tapping DeSantis’ donor network, according to a person familiar with the matter.
[…] Reaching into DeSantis’ donor pipeline could shore up funds for the presumptive Republican nominee as Trump faces a cash drain from the legal costs of his array of court cases. At the same time, President Joe Biden’s campaign widened its fundraising lead over Trump in March, raising more than $90 million.
As of April 21, Trump had just $6.8 million in the accounts he’s been using to fund his lawyers. That could drive him to tap funds from other sources to cover upcoming bills and bankroll his campaign.
The Trump-DeSantis meeting was arranged by pro-Israel investor Steve Witkoff.
One day after the meeting, Trump called for pro-Palestine protests to be shut down in an all-caps post on Truth Social.
“STOP THE PROTESTS NOW!!!” Trump said.
Trump wrote in a follow-up post:
“I am very happy to have the full and enthusiastic support of Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida. We had a great meeting yesterday, arranged by mutual friend Steve Witkoff, at his beautiful Shell Bay Club in Hollywood, Florida. The conversation mostly concerned how we would work closely together to MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN. Also discussed was the future of Florida, which is FANTASTIC! I greatly appreciate Ron’s support in taking back our Country from the Worst President in the History of the United States. November 5th is a BIG DAY!!!
Witkoff had a fundraiser for Trump planned at the Grand Prix in Miami but it was shut down for violating the Miami Grand Prix’s suite licensing agreement:
SLATER SCOOP: Donald Trump fundraiser was being planned at next week’s F1 race in Miami, I’ve learned.
The Shell Bay Club asked members for $250,000 to be in their suite hosted by Trump supporter Steve Witkoff.
Miami Grand Prix sent a cease and desist letter after finding out. pic.twitter.com/7Z6bO4fvoF
— Andy Slater (@AndySlater) April 26, 2024
As a reminder, DeSantis torpedoed his own campaign by passing hate speech laws to silence criticism of Israel on behalf of his Israel-First megadonors.
Both Republicans and Democrats are in a mad dash scramble to raise money from Israel-First donors by pushing hate speech laws to outlaw criticism of Israel.
Sputnik reported last week that US Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX) saw a 1,413% increase in AIPAC donations after sponsoring the “America Last” bill to ban TikTok, sanction Iran and give Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan $95 billion in aid.
Reuters reported in 2021 that Israel-First billionaire donors now hold more sway in Washington than corporations.
